Official : Bendis gets both books

[Superlad93]

Lois being caught "cheating" on Clark with Superman was done on the TV show years ago and it was just as messy as you can imagine. The premise was Superman vs scandal and no, he couldn't just punch his way out.

Oh wow, was it really done in Lois and Clark? That's actually really cool. I've been meaning to get more into that show. I have no nostalgia for it because I was too young to have really gotten into that sort of show when it aired, but the more I hear about it, the more I find some of the stray ideas compelling on some level. A few episodes and some contextless clips on Youtube don't really tell you much of anything about when it caught its stride.

Before Lois being with Superman before Clark isn't news. The world knows how close they are even now, no doubt there are those who've always suspected that these two have carried out an affair all this time even without any actual proof. You see it even in #1001 with key words (particularly Lois) that the Metropolis underbelly refrains from saying because they know Superman's always listening for it. It was impossible for people not to draw their own conclusions before this preview shot, let alone witness that careless mistake of embracing like a married couple in public.

This is honestly one of the big draws for me. Year and years of Lois and Superman engulfing where ever they're seen together in a thick fog of sexual tension, even going on actual dates together, and him obviously keeping a super close eye on her is catching up with them. It just took the extreme circumstance of them not seeing each other in a long while to have them slip up. And if I remember right, didn't Lois and Superman declare their love for one another and kiss in public during the Doomsday fight? A similar extreme situation, but they got lucky because of all the commotion. I love that the underworld knows how special Lois is to Superman.

The fact that she's not always targeted means that everyone simply knows it's just not a great idea to even try that play lest you catch this Kryptonian fade lol

The only difference between this and the show is that this won't be done out of malice to destroy Superman's reputation. It was an accident that Trish has unwittingly stumbled upon and will naturally exploit it as we saw already in #1001.

Yeah, I really dig the idea that it would be just Trish doing her job, but just not thinking about the repercussions for the people involved.

But in order for Superman to be Jon's father Lois would have had to have been with Superman before they were married. So unless he's going to fudge that timeline, the only way she gets pregnant is to "cheat" on Clark. Which yes, they know it's BS. But it's still a pretty gross and unnecessary angle. Why feed into that?

Been thinking about this one a lot, and that may mean Lois and Clark took a break before being married. Lois could put it in her Tell All book. But regardless of if this will be the answer or not, or if Jon will be outed, we've still got a teen Superboy where their used to be a 10 to 11 year old, and that's gonna take some interesting doing no matter what.

I honestly think Trish may bury the story and what we are shown isn't published yet. Superman just saved her life, she's going to out him and hurt his friends for a story after that?

NICE! Hadn't even thought of that. Sort of an All Star Superman style good deed for the sake of doing good that comes back to save Clark's ass in the end. Also would do some more good for Trish as a character. I remember Bendis had JJ change his ways pretty hard after Magneto attacked in the Ultimate universe. He even had JJ kill the story that would've "outed" Miles' dad as the new Spider-Man. Very similar.

[rpmaluki]

Oh wow, was it really done in Lois and Clark? That's actually really cool. I've been meaning to get more into that show. I have no nostalgia for it because I was too young to have really gotten into that sort of show when it aired, but the more I hear about it, the more I find some of the stray ideas compelling on some level. A few episodes and some contextless clips on Youtube don't really tell you much of anything about when it caught its stride.



This is honestly one of the big draws for me. Year and years of Lois and Superman engulfing where ever they're seen together in a thick fog of sexual tension, even going on actual dates together, and him obviously keeping a super close eye on her is catching up with them. It just took the extreme circumstance of them not seeing each other in a long while to have them slip up. And if I remember right, didn't Lois and Superman declare their love for one another and kiss in public during the Doomsday fight? A similar extreme situation, but they got lucky because of all the commotion. I love that the underworld knows how special Lois is to Superman.

The fact that she's not always targeted means that everyone simply knows it's just not a great idea to even try that play lest you catch this Kryptonian fade lol



Yeah, I really dig the idea that it would be just Trish doing her job, but just not thinking about the repercussions for the people involved.



Been thinking about this one a lot, and that may mean Lois and Clark took a break before being married. Lois could put it in her Tell All book. But regardless of if this will be the answer or not, or if Jon will be outed, we've still got a teen Superboy where their used to be a 10 to 11 year old, and that's gonna take some interesting doing no matter what.



NICE! Hadn't even thought of that. Sort of an All Star Superman style good deed for the sake of doing good that comes back to save Clark's ass in the end. Also would do some more good for Trish as a character. I remember Bendis had JJ change his ways pretty hard after Magneto attacked in the Ultimate universe. He even had JJ kill the story that would've "outed" Miles' dad as the new Spider-Man. Very similar.

The show is very campy but it did have some first rate plots every now and then where the stakes were certainly very high, like this scandal for one. And Clark does decide to confess the truth because it wasn't just his personal life with Lois that was taking a beating, the fate of two warring nations was also at stake.

I doubt Bendis will escalate things quite that high, as said already. Trish might not publish anything (for a gossip columnist I doubt it) I just feel like that reunion will be explained away as long as the picture(s) isn't conclusive. And if that's the case Perry will block it completely because the DP is not a tabloid tag. Jon's paternity will be its own separate thing despite the connection of Lois and Superman. Bendis can change his paternity without any cheating, past or present. It's not an impossible issue.

[Yoda]

Sorry if it seemed like I was implying that you thought it would be taken as far as manwhohaseverything assumes. My intention was actually to support your comment, tbh.

No worries. I ended up with my own parade of horribles regardless!

I pay very little attention to that subset of fans, if I'm honest. It's just such a strange and misinformed opinion to have. But as far as in universe hard knocks? If this story gets out, then I think it'd be a bit disingenuous for Lois not to take some hate, but I just hope it's the right kind such as lying about her kid along with her husband.

I do my best to ignore them as well, and I don't think Bendis shares any of those opinions. Greg Rucka is one of his best friends after all. It's just odd that he'd be blind to throwing them red meat like this.

I agree. And I also agree that it no way NEEDS to be this sort of deliberately trashy gossip angle (again, if it even is), but I can understand where he's coming from by deciding on it. The idea of taking this core concept in the Superman world: the news, and focusing on is nastier and less flattering aspects to create a truly unfortunate trap for Superman and his family. But, like I said, I'd need to see how he goes about it.

You don't think maybe it's worthwhile to tackle the very real fact that it's always the woman who takes the blows in these situations by having one of the strongest female characters beat it via he wits (her book) and resiliency? I'm not being rhetorical, but rather I'm actually asking. Now, conceptually I think that's worth a story, but I'm shaky as hell for just about anyone to handle that idea, thus my trepidation if it ends up being a thing at all. And again, I think/hope Superman takes more of a hit for this because of the unknown territory/ trap it puts him specifically in.

On the one hand, I do think that is a story that is worth tackling. I think there is maybe a lot to be said for shining a light on that gross mindset, particularly given a lot of the controversy's in comics in the last few years. And Lois Lane is 100% the badass to take that on full bore and beat them at it. I think there's probably a great scene of her walking back into the Daily Planet and just completely destroying Trish verbally in a way that'd make what Copperhead did look like a friendly chat. I don't know. Maybe I am overreacting to this.

But on the other hand, I'm not sure Bendis has that type of storytelling in him. I might have before I saw how badly he seemed to have botched 1004 and what he expected people to take away versus what they did.

Though I am impressed he's hitting all these plot threads so quickly. I expected the photo of them on the street to be a shoe that dropped like next year sometime.

Know what? I don't think they'll ever really acknowledge it past things like the JSA and Legion coming back along with whatever cosmetic changes and Mime and Marionette (along with their kids) being in the DCU. Outside of those additive concepts, I honestly think Johns set it in the future for the sake of it being evergreen. A year into the future lets him do basically whatever/deal with all of the characters' most iconic settings while technically being in continuity. I think we latched onto the idea of the one year later too hard. I mean, it's not even something they advertised outside of interviews, right? Like, does the book ever say "one year into the future" ever?

So, Bendis', King's, and Snyder's runs on their books may as well be in the future or where ever. Pretty sure each run is just gonna be like "well Doomsday Clock happens between this arc and this arc" off screen, and that's about it.

I think there's going to be some connection with Jor El that will be addressed by Bendis once Doomsday Clock concludes. But generally, I think you're probably right. Other than the JSA and Legion coming back they won't address the events directly.

And Doomsday Clock has had hard dates in the backmatter several times. The most recent dates referenced for the Superman/Firestorm incident were June 2019. So it's still about 6 months out.

Been thinking about this one a lot, and that may mean Lois and Clark took a break before being married. Lois could put it in her Tell All book. But regardless of if this will be the answer or not, or if Jon will be outed, we've still got a teen Superboy where their used to be a 10 to 11 year old, and that's gonna take some interesting doing no matter what.

Wait. They did take a break before they got married. Lois broke off the engagement for a period of time back in the triangle era. Holy ****.

[RudHao]

This Leviathan story..... is this the same Leviathan from Morrisons Batman Inc storyline?

[Superlad93]

The show is very campy but it did have some first rate plots every now and then where the stakes were certainly very high, like this scandal for one. And Clark does decide to confess the truth because it wasn't just his personal life with Lois that was taking a beating, the fate of two warring nations was also at stake.

Thanks. This has kind of inspired me to give it a real shot. I'm sure I'll get over the early 90s camp (eventually) as I go along lol.

I do my best to ignore them as well, and I don't think Bendis shares any of those opinions. Greg Rucka is one of his best friends after all. It's just odd that he'd be blind to throwing them red meat like this.

If he worried about what those people and their like thought then he wouldn't have made Miles and Jessica, and look at the two of them now: two of the most critically acclaimed superhero characters in the last decade. While reflecting on this fact and the high of seeing his baby, Miles, do so very well with his movie, and seeing Clint as Ronin in Avengers: Endgame, he recently come to the realization of "f#%k the noise, do you."

I don't know. Maybe I am overreacting to this.

I don't think you are, and I hope I'm not implying that you are. You're sensitive to all the angles is all, and with what you just said, it's clear you can see the possible good angle along with the possible worst case. And I think that's more than fair of you.

But on the other hand, I'm not sure Bendis has that type of storytelling in him.

We won't know till he actually tries. I've been on a Bendis binge lately and I've seen him rise and fall in spectacular fashion on a bunch of books so far. One moment he's basically salvaging the whole Civil War event via Confessionals, and then next he's writing the let down that was Secret Invasion (so far. Still reading). Sometimes he sleepwalks, and other times he's as sharp as ever. I'd say so far he's closer to the former but with a few growing pains. But only the actual story will tell how well he'll do. No past story or even past issue of the same book can really speak for it.

And Doomsday Clock has had hard dates in the backmatter several times. The most recent dates referenced for the Superman/Firestorm incident were June 2019. So it's still about 6 months out.

Hard dates there, and real time for us because Johns specifically said that like Watchmen it's a book directly reflective of the time it was made. Watchmen itself had hard dates and was very, very much of its time, but remains an evergreen work, and that seems to be what Johns is going for over any actual lead in for other books.

Wait. They did take a break before they got married. Lois broke off the engagement for a period of time back in the triangle era. Holy ****.

Oh wow. Sly dog. Bendis "out" has been their all along, and he's likely done the homework. We may have just cracked it lol

[rpmaluki]

What I like most about the show is how creative it got when it came to legitimately bringing down Superman without actually using kryptonite and how the beginnings of the Intergang plot mirrored Bendis' Action with the Metropolis mafia plotting right under Superman's nose. I like it when Superman moves outside of Lex/Doomsday in creating villains or situations that required for Clark to use his brains first.

[Vordan]

Only disappointment with the Leviathan storyline is Waller's role. I just...can't stand the character. I knew she'd be in it in some capacity but I'd hoped it'd be minimal. With those solicits it most definitely isn't going to be a small role.

Have you ever read Ostrander’s Suicide Squad run? I heartily recommend it if you haven’t, she’s a surprisingly deep character there. As for me I love Waller and have always wanted her to be a much more morally ambiguous Nick Fury, taking charge of the disparate intelligence groups and mold them into a SHIELD organization for DC, albeit much more morally ambiguous than SHIELD is. Waller knowing Clark’s Secret doesn’t really bother me, it will only lead to Clark butting heads with the government which is something I always enjoy.

[Yoda]

I don't think you are, and I hope I'm not implying that you are. You're sensitive to all the angles is all, and with what you just said, it's clear you can see the possible good angle along with the possible worst case. And I think that's more than fair of you.

My wife loves to poke me with her terrible Ben Affleck impression that these are "fictional characters" I'm so concerned about. But this really is a minefield of Bendis's own making. I hope he's waltzing into it knowing where he's going and has a plan to get out the other side.

We won't know till he actually tries. I've been on a Bendis binge lately and I've seen him rise and fall in spectacular fashion on a bunch of books so far. One moment he's basically salvaging the whole Civil War event via Confessionals, and then next he's writing the let down that was Secret Invasion (so far. Still reading). Sometimes he sleepwalks, and other times he's as sharp as ever. I'd say so far he's closer to the former but with a few growing pains. But only the actual story will tell how well he'll do. No past story or even past issue of the same book can really speak for it.

I was a Bendis fanboy back in the day. I fell off collecting comics in the late 90's like a lot of people but Ultimate Spider-Man, Alias, and Powers were a big part of why I got back into them. His Avengers books were never really my favorite, particularly after Secret Invasion. But I think at one time he could have told this type of story. Alias handled a lot of delicate and difficult subject matter really well and Jessica Jones is an amazing character. So he definitely could do this type of story really well at one point.

Oh wow. Sly dog. Bendis "out" has been their all along, and he's likely done the homework. We may have just cracked it lol

I mean, Bendis apparently read a lot of Jurgen's era stuff because he's talked him up as being a hugely underappreciated Superman writer, so who knows. And I think it actually played out that Lois called off the engagement, left Metropolis for a while, but then she came back and they quickly got back together and got married. If this truly the direction he wants to go with this, it may actually be how they could do it.

[Superlad93]

My wife loves to poke me with her terrible Ben Affleck impression that these are "fictional characters" I'm so concerned about. But this really is a minefield of Bendis's own making. I hope he's waltzing into it knowing where he's going and has a plan to get out the other side.

My girlfriend's the same way lol At the very least, above all else, I do get the distinct feeling that he's in no way flying blind. It feels like he has a plan.

I mean, Bendis apparently read a lot of Jurgen's era stuff because he's talked him up as being a hugely underappreciated Superman writer, so who knows. And I think it actually played out that Lois called off the engagement, left Metropolis for a while, but then she came back and they quickly got back together and got married. If this truly the direction he wants to go with this, it may actually be how they could do it.

This is true. He's cited Jurgens' run, Johns' run, the very idea of imaginary stories, Superman 400, and the Legion of Superheroes as Superman related inspirations. If you're going to redefine the relationship, then probably best to use some old continuity as an anchor point. I'd say there's a very good chance the idea is to use that pocket as a window.

By any chance, do you remember the comic where Lois breaks things off for a bit?

[Yoda]

This is true. He's cited Jurgens' run, Johns' run, the very idea of imaginary stories, Superman 400, and the Legion of Superheroes as Superman related inspirations. If you're going to redefine the relationship, then probably best to use some old continuity as an anchor point. I'd say there's a very good chance the idea is to use that pocket as a window.

By any chance, do you remember the comic where Lois breaks things off for a bit?

I think these are the big issues for that arc. The Wedding Album special is actually the issue after the "Lois Lane Quest" below. They reconcile in the Wedding Album and then immediately get married. And that's Action Comics 720, Superman, Vol. 2 115 and 118. The Wedding Album directly follows 118. Sorry for the tiny pics.

0FDB1270-74F1-44A6-818A-58A24980CD87.jpg

4EDCF5DB-2C48-4F06-B4E1-21FF0598253E.jpg

11F29322-A3B1-4C32-B859-226E111CC6F5.jpg

[Superlad93]

Much appreciated.

[Superlad93]

Apparently there are rumors going around about Matt Fraction doing a Lex Luthor for Black Label as part of the Bendis deal that apparently made it a stipulation that Fraction do a Superman related book if Bendis came over. These rumors mix in with the previous Fraction on Jimmy Olsen rumors. Those rumors apparently ended when DC shot down his idea for the book for whatever reason. No telling if any of this is true given the sources are unverified, but as a Fraction fan and Superman fan I'm both bummed and hyped by the idea. On the one hand Matt Fraction injected his particular quirk into a Lex book, and giving Lex a book at all sounds awesome.

On the other hand, I think a Fraction Jimmy book sounds far and away more immediately interesting. We know Jimmy's getting a book, so I wonder why DC didn't want Fraction to do it? If the Rucka/Lois book rumors are true along these Fraction?Lex rumors then Bendis gets to have his Trinity in the Superman books. Fingers crossed for Hickman randomly popping in to do the aforementioned Jimmy book lol

[Sacred Knight]

I think these are the big issues for that arc. The Wedding Album special is actually the issue after the "Lois Lane Quest" below. They reconcile in the Wedding Album and then immediately get married. And that's Action Comics 720, Superman, Vol. 2 115 and 118. The Wedding Album directly follows 118. Sorry for the tiny pics.

0FDB1270-74F1-44A6-818A-58A24980CD87.jpg

4EDCF5DB-2C48-4F06-B4E1-21FF0598253E.jpg

11F29322-A3B1-4C32-B859-226E111CC6F5.jpg

I can only hope any friction he writes is more organic and features better characterization than that arc. Yikes. Love that era but that was painful. Not their fault in one sense, they had to keep finding ways to stretch things out till the tv show was ready for its wedding per the ABC deal, but man did it make both characters look bad. Then it didn't help that the wedding finally happening on L&C ended up catching everyone off-guard, so they had to end the separation angle within the actual Wedding Album issue, so the reconciliation on top of it was rushed.

I will also grievingly remember this time as the countdown to the end of the mullet.

[Vordan]

Apparently there are rumors going around about Matt Fraction doing a Lex Luthor for Black Label as part of the Bendis deal that apparently made it a stipulation that Fraction do a Superman related book if Bendis came over. These rumors mix in with the previous Fraction on Jimmy Olsen rumors. Those rumors apparently ended when DC shot down his idea for the book for whatever reason. No telling if any of this is true given the sources are unverified, but as a Fraction fan and Superman fan I'm both bummed and hyped by the idea. On the one hand Matt Fraction injected his particular quirk into a Lex book, and giving Lex a book at all sounds awesome.

On the other hand, I think a Fraction Jimmy book sounds far and away more immediately interesting. We know Jimmy's getting a book, so I wonder why DC didn't want Fraction to do it? If the Rucka/Lois book rumors are true along these Fraction?Lex rumors then Bendis gets to have his Trinity in the Superman books. Fingers crossed for Hickman randomly popping in to do the aforementioned Jimmy book lol

Give Hickman the Legion, that’s a team that badly needs fresh blood and new ideas. Sadly now that Hickman is transitioning to TV I doubt he’ll ever write another Big 2 book again. Way too much money to make in TV/movies.

[Miles To Go]

I can only hope any friction he writes is more organic and features better characterization than that arc. Yikes. Love that era but that was painful. Not their fault in one sense, they had to keep finding ways to stretch things out till the tv show was ready for its wedding per the ABC deal, but man did it make both characters look bad. Then it didn't help that the wedding finally happening on L&C ended up catching everyone off-guard, so they had to end the separation angle within the actual Wedding Album issue, so the reconciliation on top of it was rushed

Well, as you say, the separation was b.s anyway, so the least focus it got in the album the better. The scene where they patch up is handled quite well.